Still mooing and blooming in my town!

The day we caught the ferry across to Plymouth for our Cardiff trip was also the day of the annual ‘feria’ (animal fair) in our local town, so we decided ‘the holiday starts here’ and took in the sights before driving on to Santander.

Farmers from all over the region bring their cattle into town on this day and for days before the event local fields suddenly fill up with various herds. The lovely sound of cow bells reaches our village from the valley floor as the cattle are driven along, sometimes by farmers on foot with dogs, or with a large 4×4 following along, or – the most ‘romantic’ way – driven along by caballeros on horseback. Sadly we didn’t see any caballeros this year, so no photo!

There is a large car park in the centre of town – I use the term ‘car park’ very loosely as its uses are diverse. It can be a fairground in August; a tasting venue for cheeses, hams or orujo (local firewater); an outdoor theatre for ‘wandering minstrels’; even a ‘camp site’ for touring RVs – but I like it best when it’s filled with mooing cattle, ruddy-faced farmers with big sticks and sweet-smelling hay.

A very handsome line up!

Incontinent donkeys????

It was lovely to see the ever-popular displays of red pelargoniums still giving their best – even in November!

Comments

Glad you started your holiday at home nariz, it's a lovely town and you've taken some excellent photos. It's interesting to see that some things are so much the same all over the world, there's something universal about a local market/fair.
Your village is so picturesque and in such a beautiful setting, it could be somewhere in North Wales.

i enjoyed your pics and blog Nariz, what a lovely town you live in ,we went to a similar market while on holiday once i think it was Inca but the animals were not as healthy looking as those in your pics. :o)

Yes Stickitoffee, there were ponies and horses as well as the usual cows, but they were 'fidgety' and I couldn't get a decent picture of them.
Joanella and Clarice - yes I do live in a lovely town. We only call in about once a week for shopping and, even though it's four years down the line, I still think it's one of the nicest places I've ever experienced and I feel incredibly lucky to be living here.